November 19th, 2007
Update: The OLPC’s “Give One, Get One” Campaign has been extended until December 31st! If thought you were going to miss out in supporting this worthy cause, you now have more time to participate…
I’ve been hearing about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative for some time. It came to my attention that between November 12 and November 26th, OLPC would be offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada.
At PowerServe, I have the pleasure of working with a lot of folks that love technology as much as I do AND love giving to worthy causes. When I saw the OLPC Give One Get One program was going on, I immediately sent an IM to Mike and Jeff. They loved the idea, and said that PowerServe would match what employees could raise.
The initial goal was to try and purchase one OLPC. But I’m happy to report that between the bunch of us, we were able to raise over $400 and PowerServe is going to match that to purchase two pairs of the OLPC xo laptops. Two of the systems are destined for developing countries where they’ll provided to children who would otherwise not have access to the internet or technology in general. The other two systems will be making their way to our offices, where, once they arrive we’ll be giving them to two local children who could use them.
I’m glad to support this initiative, and I can’t thank my coworkers enough for supporting this worthy cause. If you’re interested in participating on your own, xo laptops are available for $399 via laptopgiving.org. One system goes abroad, the other comes to you. Don’t wait too long though. The Give One Get One program only lasts until November 26th.
(One bonus to this is that buying the xo laptop will net you 12 months of free T-Mobile Hot Spot use. The recipients of the laptops we’ve purchased will be getting this access to use with their new computers. I’ll be following up with this post once we decide on who will get the laptops!)
October 9th, 2007
I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while… Patrick recently took it upon himself to entomb Wyatt’s Initech coffee cup in a bowl full of Jello. You can view all of the pics from the prank here.
March 7th, 2007
One of the running jokes here at PowerServe, is that I can’t keep my desk the same way for more than a few weeks. But it’s true. For as long as I can remember I’ve made it a point to change up my workspace at least once a month. I try to think of my workspace as being an organic, evolving environment… The subtle changes that I make to my workspace are really exercises in discovering configurations that work best for me. Some configurations stick. Others don’t. Sometimes people notice the change, most of the time they don’t. What does matter is that I notice. Having a desk that is constantly changing, constantly evolving to fit my work-style and my work environment helps me to stay better focused on the tasks at hand…
In the creative department, we’ve taken this idea a step further by decorating the walls with posters each of us enjoy. I’ve got several Clerks: The Animated Series posters up, a Spider-man poster and a Superman poster. I’ve also got tons of action figures and toys at my desk. From the ceiling, I’ve got a 12in Superman hanging, along with a Naboo Fighter and an American flag… Patrick’s got movie posters and a Misfits flag hanging on his walls. A huge British flag is hanging from the ceiling in front of his desk. Don’s got a few Mental Soup posters, a Star Trek Nemesis poster and a U2 poster on his walls. He’s got a few toys here and there… and a Led Zepplin flag hanging on a bookshelf… Josh is probably the minimalist of us all… he’s got two posters up… one he made, and another of a Triumph motorcycle…
Regardless of whether we have a lot around our desks, or just a little… we’re encouraged to make our workspaces environment’s we’re comfortable in.
Give it a try sometime… Don’t settle for how your workspace currently is, unless you’re really happy with it. Try configuring your desk differently… have it point in a different direction. If you’re facing a wall, move things around so you’re facing the center of the room… Hang some artwork on the walls… Do something different! You might be surprised at the results.
January 25th, 2007
I first started using this site as a blog in 2001. It wasn’t anything special. I did everything by hand. There was no RSS feed. At one point I developed a ColdFusion-based application that let me post “news articles” to the site, but never really did anything with it.
Before 2001, the site served as an online portfolio only. I used it to post previews of work I had done, and used it to land a couple of jobs. But cdharrison.com was not my first website. My first site was actually on Geocities. I stress “was” because the site was hacked after I ticked some people off in the chatrooms… but anyways… I don’t really need to go into all of that. (One of these days, I will get around to at least snapping some screenshots of some of the older designs…)
More
August 9th, 2005
Yesterday, PowerServe joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals as a Corporate Member. Personally, I’ve wanted to join NAPP for quite some time. I’ve enjoyed PhotoshopUser, the organization’s magazine, for quite some time.
Members get discounts on seminars, books, products, etc. Have you thought about joining?
